The Federal Government has through the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) demolished the regional headquarters of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos. At least N5 billion worth of investment and property had gone down the drain with the demolition of the structure.
The structure has been the headquarters of the bureau until mid-2020 when it was marked for demolition to accommodate the expansion of the new terminal, which had been under construction since 2013.
The expansion of the new Lagos Airport terminal is slated for commissioning on Tuesday, March 22, 2022.
Also, other private hangars operating at the airport and government agencies including Dominion, Evergreen Apple Nigeria, Caverton, ExecuJet, office complex of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Federal Road Service Corps (FRSC) and the towing companies close to the AIB-N regional headquarters were being affected by the exercise.
The demolished regional headquarters of AIB-N housed its office complex, Command & Control Centre, office of investigators and Information Communication Technology (ICT) department.
Others are Training Centre, Mini Flight Safety Laboratory, which is used for downloading flight recorders otherwise known as black boxes and investigators’ stores among others.
Most of the facilities at the AIB-N’s office in Lagos were installed barely four years ago by the current management led by Engr. Akin Olateru, the Commissioner, AIB.
Meanwhile, some staff members of the AIB-N have lamented how they were elected from office and asked to relocate to Abuja.
They claimed they were asked to relocate without relocation allowance or a befitting office for them in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Many of its staff who were forced to move to Abuja could not secure accommodation in the FCT da due to paucity of funds while some have been sleeping in hotels in recent times, Naija News learnt.
FAAN had said the building and others would be used for apron extension of the new terminal.
